What’s Good 12/9-17
Our weekly guide to what’s going on around Buffalo and in the world of pop culture
Friday, 12/9
Anti-Flag w/Cancer Bats, Plasmid (Rec Room, 79 W Chippewa, doors 6pm)Political Pittsburgh punk band Anti-Flag have been raging against the machine since the early ’90s, and still have plenty to be angry about in the 2020, and a new album, Lies They Tell Our Children due out in the new year.
New Movies This Week:
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song (North Park Theatre, 1428 Hertel Ave.)
Cohen, who passed away in 2016, left behind a 50-year legacy of dark, poetic music, explored in this documentary. While he was never a household name, Bob Dylan called him the “number one songwriter,” and Kurt Cobain sang, “give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld / so I can sigh eternally.”
Salaam Venky (Regal Elmwood Center, 2001 Elmwood Ave.)
This acclaimed Hindi-language Indian drama stars Bollywood superstar Kajol as a mother trying to help her son (Vishal Jethwa) live life to the fullest while suffering from muscular dystrophy.
Elf (North Park Theatre, 1428 Hertel Ave.)
The North Park is showing Will Ferrel’s Christmas classic all week (7pm weeknights, 3:50 Saturday, and 11:30am Sunday), and seemingly every theater in town is playingi it at 1pm on Sunday.
Saturday, 12/10
The Beaches (Iron Works, 49 Illinois St.)
This all-girl, all-Canadian foursome won a Juno for Rock Album of the Year last year, and put on an energetic live show.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (O’Connell & Company, 4110 Bailey Ave., Amherst)
The Ed Croft Trio performs the music of Vince Guaraldi, including his soundtrack to the beloved Peanuts Christmas special.
Monday, 12/12
Batman/Batman Returns (Amherst Theater, 3500 Main St., 6:30/9:00)
The Amherst presents a one-night-only double feature of both Tim Burton/Michael Keaton Batman films. The first set the gold standard for superhero movies, with Jack Nicholson chewing the scenery as the Joker and Prince providing the soundtrack; the second is a beloved overstuffed mess, as Bats matches wits with Michelle Pfeiffer’s irresistible Catwoman, Danny DeVito’s grotesque Penguin, Christopher Walken’s oddball business mogul, and an army of remote control penguins with rocket launchers. It’s also a Christmas movie. It’s all too bananas not to see on the big screen.
Tuesday 12/13
Come From Away (Shea’s Performing Arts Center, 646 Main St.)
This uplifting musical, about a small town in Newfoundland who unexpectedly play host to 7,000 passengers of various planes grounded on 9/11, was a huge hit on Broadway, was nominated for 7 Tony Awards, and is at Shea’s this week only (through 12/18)
Kindred (Hulu)
Adapted from Octavia Butler’s classic sci-fi novel, Mallori Johnson stars as an aspiring writer who finds herself traveling back and forth in time between modern-day Los Angeles, and the plantation in antebellum Maryland where her ancestors were enslaved.
Thursday 12/15
Subject Board of Directors Meeting (5:45pm, Google Meet)
Subject is student-run and managed by a non-profit. Our board meetings are open to the public, in case you want to make suggestions or see how the sausage gets made. You can also join our Discord channel to learn more about the site and pitch an article, radio show, or podcast, or otherwise get involved.
Marsha McWilson (Batavia Downs, 8315 Park Rd., Batavia, $15)
The Blues Queen of Niagara Falls puts on a Motown Christmas Concert, paying tribute to ’60s soul legends and the holiday season.
Friday 12/16
MOE. (Iron Works, 49 Illinois St., $20, doors 8pm)
These stalwarts of the jam band circuit got their start at UB, and are coming home for an intimate show at Iron Works.
Friday 12/16
A John Waters Christmas (Babeville, 341 Delaware Ave, $40, doors 8pm)
Waters, the director who gave us Pink Flamingoes,Hairspray, and earned the nickname “The Pope of Trash” for his gloriously vulgar films in the ’80s and ’90s, appears on stage, “to reinfect the lunatic fringe with holiday jeer.” $110 VIP tickets also include a post-show Q&A with Waters, an autographed poster, and a socially-distanced selfie.
Subject Board of Directors Meeting (5:45pm, Google Meet)
Subject is student-run and managed by a non-profit. Our board meetings are open to the public, in case you want to make suggestions or see how the sausage gets made. You can also join our Discord channel to learn more about the site and pitch an article, radio show, or podcast, or otherwise get involved.
